Topic: Neptune (Planet)

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In Pictures Space photos of the day: Uranus

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Neptune moon: Astronomer spots tiny moon orbiting eighth planet

Neptune moon: Archival images from the Hubble Space Telescope has revealed a tiny, faint moon orbiting Neptune, bringing the distant gas giant's known moons to 14.
Exoplanet's deep blue color a surprise to scientists

For the first time, scientists have determined the color of a planet outside our solar system.
Voyager 1 comes closer to leaving the solar system...again

Scientists have detected one of the critical signs that the Voyager 1 is nearly in interstellar space. But this has happened before.
What's that thing in Uranus's orbit – and how did it get there?

Scientists have located three Centaurs – asteroid-comet hybrids – in Uranus's orbit, including one that's moving oddly in the planet's wake.
Life on Saturn's moon? How a mountain gave clues to a subsurface sea.

Saturn's icy moon Dione may hide a subsurface ocean, researchers say. They found clues to the hidden sea in the way a mountain range warped the surface of the frozen moon.
Tiny telescope's big discovery: Saturn-like planet orbiting an unlikely star

The Saturn-like planet has a well-studied cousin – the first alien planet found using the transit approach – to which it can be compared, right down to the makeup of its atmosphere.
Why do planets farthest from sun have highest winds? Team closes in on answer

The planets beyond Mars exhibit the highest winds speeds of any other planets in the solar system. It's a puzzle, because less energy from the sun is available there to drive higher winds.
What's a monster hurricane doing on top of Saturn? (+video)

A monster hurricane at Saturn's north pole, spotted by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, has an eye 1,250 miles wide and inner eye wall winds of 330 miles an hour. Its energy source is a mystery.
Earth-like planets next door? Prospect could point to 9.6 billion more

A new study calculates that the nearest Earth-like planet may be only 13 light-years away – and argues there may be more habitable planets out there than we thought.
02/06/2013 07:55 pm
Earth-like planets next door? Prospect could point to 9.6 billion more

A new study calculates that the nearest Earth-like planet may be only 13 light-years away – and argues there may be more habitable planets out there than we thought.
Newfound 'super-Earth' could be habitable for life

HD 40307g is one of three newly discovered worlds around the parent star, which was already known to host three planets. The finds thus boost the star's total planetary population to six.
Bizarre alien 'Tatooine' orbits two suns, in four-star solar system

The alien planet, called PH1, is a gas giant planet slightly bigger than Neptune.
Out at the edge of the solar system, surprises for Voyager 1 (+video)

Voyager 1 seems to have hit the doldrums as it approaches the edge of the sun's sphere of influence. Still, says a lead scientist, 'We all have the sense that something big is imminent.'
Pluto's fifth moon: five fascinating facts (+video)

Using data from the Hubble telescope, SETI scientists spotted a fifth moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto.
Bizarre vortex spotted on Saturn's largest moon

NASA's Cassini probe has photographed a swirling vortex of gas high above the south pole of Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
Astronomers discover an 'odd couple' of planets

The Kepler spacecraft has detected a pair of extrasolar planets with orbits so close that at times the larger planet looms more than twice the size of the full moon in the second planet's night sky.
Astronomers spot pair of planets dancing the lambada (+video)

A duo of very different planets orbit in close proximity but will not collide, but close encounters could cause gravitational tides, says a scientist.
Bizarre alien planets get cozy with each other (+video)

A duo of planets some 1,200 light years from earth have been spotted passing within 1.2 million miles of each other, closer than any other known pair of planets, a new study has found.
Voyager 1 to become first man-made object to leave solar system (+video)

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 is now poised to become the first craft to enter interstellar space.
Thousands of comets orbiting new star collide every day, create visible debris ring

Comets, perhaps over 80 trillion, circle a young star that houses one alien planet and maybe more. There are thousands of daily comet collisions in the star's orbit.
NASA discovers 26 new alien planets in 11 solar systems

The findings nearly double the number of bona fide planets found outside our solar system by the Kepler space observatory.
Most stars in our galaxy have planets, study suggests

Rocky, roughly earth-like planets orbiting stars seem to be the rule, rather than the exception, an new study reveals.
New planet discovered to be first in habitable zone

New planet discovery excites scientists: the discovery of a new planet 600 light years away with roughly the right temperature for plant and animal habitation is causing a buzz in the science community. Though much larger than Earth, scientists haven't ruled out the possibility of life being discovered.
12/06/2011 12:10 am
Where did Earth's water come from? Comet Hartley 2 offers new clues.

The composition of comet Hartley 2 suggests that comets might have been a bigger source of Earth's water than previously thought. It's also challenging models of solar system formation.
10/06/2011 05:51 pm
Fried egg nebula: European telescope captures image of monster star [VIDEO]

Fried egg nebula: The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope has spotted a massive yellow hypergiant star surrounded by a dusty double shell, prompting astronomers to think of breakfast.
09/28/2011 06:58 pm